Sun and planet wheel gear



5 sheets -sheet 1 E UHLICH ET AL sun AND PLANET WHEEL GEAR Flled March 28, 1930 March 7,- 1933.

March 7, 1933. E. UHLICH ETAL SUN AND PLANET WHEEL GEAR Filed March 28. 19550 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 7, 1933.

E. UHLICH ET AL SUN AND PLANET WHEEL GEAR Filed March 28, 1930 Y 3 Sheets-Sheef 3,

I nVen/ans' 2o attained for the Patented Mar. 7,1933

UNITED STATES.

amen umlrcn ann'wnmmt PATE NT OFFICE s AND 2mm WHEEL em Application filed Mama at, 1936, Serial no.

This invention relates to sun and planet wheel gears or epicyclic gear-drives, which may be used especially in connection with motor-driven vehicles, such as automobiles,

5 motor cars and the like.

Drives of this kind have been proposed in which there are used two individual gearsystems connected in series with each other and some of these known drives also comprise 1a a common carrier for the planet wheels.

The new sun and planet wheel gear which forms part of our present invention is intended to serve in the first place to solve two problems by the aid of essentially the same devices. On the one hand, the new gear provides an automatic regulation by action of the load to be'driven by the gear, in such a way that the most favorable gradual ratio of gearing or reduction of speed may be conditions prevailing at a time and on the other hand said gear will be automatically thrown into and out ofoperation by action of its own speed of rotation. In order to obtain a common or general solution for both of these problems, there are used in the first place devices whereby on the one handthe torque exerted by the brakes, when in engaged condition, and on the other hand the counter-action of the member which carso ries the brake surface will be transmitted to the driven shaft in such a manner that these two forces will mutually reinforce each other. A further'problem which issuccessfully to solved by our present invention consists in transmitting the aforementioned two driving forces, viz. the torque exerted by the brakes and the counter-action of the memher which carries the'braking surface not in a 4 0 direct but in an indirect way, that is by means of intermediate transmission gears.

In all constructions of the sun and planet wheel gear which forms part of our present invention, individual gear-systems are used which operate in series connection with each other, said individual gear-systems being adapted to mutually control each other by means of a common carrier, for different planet wheels. Either sun-wheel of the said 0 two serially connected individual gear-sysstructions forming part of with the one or other 439,632, and in Germany March 28,1929.

tems is operatively connected with the driven shaft, although not in every case by means of a particular driving member. In addition to this, between the second sun-wheel of either individual gear-system and the driven shaft there is provided'a clutch which acts by centrifugal force. The sun-wheels in the present case may either consist of pinions' having the form of spur-gears or also of gear-wheels with internal teeth. In all conmy inventionneed tobe exerted on the ar and may in every case be exerted on the carriers for the planetwheels, while the special organs which form part of the brake may be of any desired known construction. The control rods for the brake must be constructed in accordance kind of braking organs braking does not casing in. particul used. K

In the drawings we have shown three forms of construction of sun and planet wheel gears forming part of our'pre'sent invention. y

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 1 to 5 the new sun and planet wheel gear consists of two individual systems of planet wheel gears which are rigidly connected with each other by means of a carrier and co operate with a centrifugal clutch which serves for the transmission of power. A further, third, individual plant wheel gear-system is used in order to effect backward motion, no-load motion and braking by hand and in addition to this, in order to throw-in the driving organs which produce forward speed.

With-the second form of construction of our new 'sun and planet wheel ear it will be possible to unite the two first a orementioned individual planet wheel gears in an especial manner and to dispense with said third individual planet Wheel ear-system. Y

The third form oi construction accordin to our invention is shown in Fig. 8 in which case there are likewise used only two individual planet wheel gear-systems comprising a carrier for the planet wheels which are not rigidly connected with'each other. This constructionsolvcs the problem of constructv From Fi i am and planet wheel gear which is of extremely small dimensions and of very simple construction. l

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is an axial longitudinal section, Fi 2 a cross-section along line AQTB' of the c utch, Fig. 3 a cross-section along line. CD showing some details of the control mechanism including an operating lever etc. 'ThesTe' parts are omitted in Fi lfor the sake of clearness. Figs. 4 and 5 s ow some details, Fig. 6 is an axial 1ongitudinal section through another form of construction of our new sun and planet wheel gear, Fig. 7 a diagrammaticab front view thereof and Fig. 8 a longitudinal section in axial directionthrough a third form of corrstruction of my present sun and planet wheel gear.

:1 it will be seen that the motor shaft (1 carries a pinion b which engages with two oppositely positioned pinions 0 and 0 constructed in the manner. of stepped wheels carried by the rotating shaft of the planet wheels. The members 0 and c serve for fastening the shaft of the planet wheels. Preferabl a pressure or thrust bearing is inse'rte intermediate the pinion c and the member 0 as well as intermediate the pinion c and the member 6 The members .e and 6 are preferably constructed to form parts of the casing which encloses the carrier for the planet wheels, which casing in the present case consists of two parts 7 and f The planet. wheels 9 and g are mounted in the usual manner on pivots i and 2' on the planet wheel carrier f which is rigidly connected to the part f of the casing. By means of the pivots i and '5 the part f of the casing may in addition be connected with the planet wheel carrier f The planet wheels g and 9 are in mesh with the sun or central wheel It mounted on the bushing 70. The latter is carried by a part of the casing enclosing the planet wheel carrier f said part of the casing being constructed in the form ofa hollow shaft The outer end of the bushing In carries a disk I to which the shoes n and a of the centrifugal clutch are pivoted by means of bolts permitting outward motion "of said shoes against the action of springs. The

7 number of these shoes may be chosen in accordance with thespecific purpose of use,

for instance, three, six or another number of shoes being taken. The brake which is com posed of the disk-l, the brake shoes at and 01 etc., acts upon the brakin surface of the casing 0. This braking sur ace is provided interiorly of said casing 0, as shown in Fig. 1, said braking surface ma an exterior surface provi ed, for instanceion the outside of the wheel rim p, permitting the length of the gear construction to be reducedby properly changing the dimensions of the several parts. At another place the casing 0 carries the wheel rim 1) having inter- 'Mounted upon the bearing a consistin however, also be aeeaeee nal teeth on which the planet wheels 9 and 9 may roll. The several parts of which this casing is composed, viz the rim p with internal teeth, the braking surface, theshaft a and the intermediate members are rigidly connected with each other. The wheel b and-the shaft a are preferably made integral with each other. The cover g which serves for closing up the casing o is provided with a central flange projecting into the casing and may be used together with a part 10 having the form of a stulfing box as a spacing member between the shafts, wheels and bushings which are carried by the main shaft at. These members comprise the bushing the planet wheel carrier f the bushings h and k and the sun or central wheel h.

The differential gear wheel 6 is carried the driving shaft-a which ends into a pivot u positioned within the bearing-a is the crossof the Cardan drive and the end piece 'u Within longitudinal grooves in screw u the shaft a is slidably mounted a catch memher 8 which isv equipped with a companion member 8 of usual construction for the claw 8 carried by'the operating lever. The catch 8 which is integral with the catch wheel 8 and said member 8 is provided interiorly with longitudinal grooves and with an exterior toothed catch wheel 8 the pitch of the teeth of saidcatch wheel being equal to that of the teeth of the planet wheels w and 'w mounted on their carrier 'w The casing at for the planet wheels is provided with internal teeth upon which the planet wheels w and w may roll. The part w is constructed as a brake-drum coherent with the carrier w for the planet wheels w and 'w The fixed casing z is equipped with a ball-bearing. Preferably the above mentioned member 8 is made integral with the catch 8 and eventually with the catch wheel 8 0 is filled with a lubricant in order to provide proper lubrication between the cover 9 and the carriers w and w 1 The lubricant is prevented to come in contact with the remaining parts contained in the casing. A. packing of felt or similar material closes up the ba -bearing z towards the outside.

Fig. 2 is a view of the spring operated brake shoes n, m and 71 which are provided within the casing o.

Fig. 3 shows that the catch 8 is actuated 1n known manner by the claw 8 carried by the operating lever t. The safety device s; serves to retain the claw a in its temporary position, whilethe slide pivot s of known construction is preferably fixed on-the central wall of the casing 2 (not shown).

The slot t is provided with an oblong hole-which may be opened and closed by the left-hand portion of the aperture in the up.- per part of the lever carryin claw a as may be seen from ig. 4..

The casing the slidable motor shaft a the brake shoes The right-hand portion of the oblong hole in the slot t permits full forward and rearward motion of the operating lever t to actu ate the hand brake which consists of the brake lever '0 the shaft 'v,-the eccentric m, the brake lever 12 and the brake band at. A pawl-and-ratchet device t t t and t, of usual construction is likewise employed" as shown in Fig. 3. v Y

The aforedescribed' device operates as follows: 1

If the car has come to standstill after shutting off the gas it will only be necessary to again supply gas in order to start the car. In this case the operating lever is in its front position, that is, when positioned within the aperture which is produced according to Fig. 5 intermediatethe slot 25 and the claw 83,. The catch 8 is moved from the position as shown in Fig. 1 to its outermost right-hand position and the sun or central wheel .8 is

projectedinto the casing u In consequence thereof the Cardan shaft is rigidly connected with the driving shaft a and the wheel 6 Connected with the shaft a is the casing '0 as had above been described and the wheel rim 1) having internal teeth. All parts mentioned will now be fixed in position due to the kinetic energy of the car.

If now the motor is started, the planet wheels 0 and a, the planet wheel shaft d, the casing member f, the carrier )2 for the planet wheels as well as the planet wheels 9 and g themselves will be carried with the rotating motor shaft'in accordance with the gear ratio. e planet wheels 9 and 9 now will impart rotation to the sun or central wheel it and therewith to the disk Z as 'well as to the brake shoes connected withsaid disk,

said brake shoes sliding in dependence of the speed of rotation against the action of springs upon the braking surface. At small speeds the sun and planet wheel gear as de scribed will act in the manner of a free-wheel mechanism and with increasing speed of the n and n will gradually be pressed against the braking surface 0, thus exerting a braking effect upon the sun or central wheel h, the kinetic 'energ of the casing 0 due to the rotation thereof eing gradually decreased on account of the friction arising between the brake shoes and the braking surface. When transmitting the motion of the sun or central wheel h by way of the planet wheels, the same effect will be exerted upon the internal teeth of the casing '0. With increasing braking pressure between the brake shoes n and n and the casing o the effect of braking exerted on the sun or central wheel as well as the power which is transmitted by the planet wheels 9 and 9 to the wheel rim p with internal teeth or to the casing '0 which latter now commences to rotate in the direction of rotation of' the motor shaft. i Y

may serve as a speed reduction gear by the action which is exerted by the casing f upon the carrier f and the planet wheels 9 and 91. As the speedof rotation of the casing o and of the shaft (1 approaches the speed of rotation of the driving shaft a, the relative motion of all parts of the drive decreases until all parts have assumed the same speed of rotation, thus coming to rest'relatively to each other.

If the car travels up-hill, the speed of rotation of "the shaft a1, and in consequence thereof the pressure exerted bythebrakeshoes 72. upon. the braking surface will decrease and in accordance therewith the speed.

If it is desired to stop the car, the sup- ,piliy of fuel to the motor is throttled or cut- 0 In no-load condition of the sun and planet wheel gear the operating lever is introduced into the aperture which is formed on account of the fact that the shaft a1 overlaps the claw 83. In this condtion of the drive the catch 8 is positioned outside shown in Fig. 1. If the motor in this condition of the drive rotates at high speed, the drive will rotate without any relative motion between its operating parts and the Car dan shaft will be at rest being in uncoupledcondition. In the aforementioned third planet Wheel gear there will bea relative motion of the planet wheels wand 10 with respect to the casing u this relative motion being due to the rotation of the sun or central wheel 82. v

' For backward travelof the car. the operating lever which is positioned withinthe slot 83, as shown in Fig. 4, is entirely retracted and the catch 8 remains in the last-mentioned position. The brake band a: now will be placed upon the member wa therewith keeping the carrier for the planet wheels in fixed position. The planet wheel Q0 and the carrier we now rotate by action of the shaft a or by action of the sun or. central wheel 81 and the casing u so that the Gardan shaft now rotates in a direction opposite to the former direction of rotation.

The brake is actuated by means of the operating lever which moves the upper lever of the claw into the position shown in Fig.

the catch 8 to "move towards 5, which causes wheela to be coupled the right and the sun with the brake w.

According to Fig. 6 the motor shaft a is supported with the pressure pivot u in the Cardan shaft a. At the end of the shaft a in' frontof the pivot u there is provided a pinion b in the form of a s ur-gear preferably integral with the sha t, said pinion serving as a driving member meshing with the planet wheels '0 and 01. These planet Wheels rotate freely upon bushings i and 2" of the casing u as .g and g j teeth constructed to agree with .of the catch -s the extension 1 and there-v g which terminate on both sides into a planet wheel f, f1. This carrier for the purpose of permitting uniform reception of the load is made of two parts. The part f rotates freely by means of a bushing k while the part f1 rotates freel together with the bushing k around the hollow shaft is which is connected with the sun or central wheel. This sun or central wheel together withthe hollow shaft is rotates freely with the bushing k around the shaft a. A tooth gearing is provided at the end of the hollow shaft k, said tooth gearing being in mesh with the flange l of the centrifugalclutch. The brake" shoes 'h and n come in engagement ing surfaces provided on the interior wallv of the casing o. This-casing is preferably of cylindrical form havin a cover g and rotates together with the bus ing-k0 upon the hollow shaft of the catch 8, 81. The other side which is constructed as a bearing rotates together with the bushing k5 upon an extension Z of the flange I, said extension havin the form of a hollow shaft. The end 0% the bushing his engaged from the outside by-a second catch '8' which rotates with the bushing is; freely around the shaft.

As Fig. 7 shows, the planet wheels 0 and 0 are in mesh with the outer planet wheels 9 and 9' whose pivots are likewise carried by the two-part planet wheel carrier composed of the two parts f and f The outer wheels mesh with internal teeth 1) on the casing 0. A lateral extension of the carrier for the planet with the external shaft 44 The external teeth 8 on the other hand maybe made'to mesh with internal the teeth 8' on the casing o'. In order toprevent-the catch 8 against being pulled too far towards the outside which would result'in a contact between the teeth 8 and the wall of the casing 0, the end position of the catch is fixed a collar, stop or the like. With the aid with the .entire centrifugal clutch l, n is mounted displaceably in longitudinal direction upon the bushing 10.; permitting engage 'ment and disengagement of the "interna :teeth 1 on the flange of the brake with and from the companion, external teeth on the extension is of the sun or central wheel h.. The brakeband is designated with a p The brake lever t in connection with the above described first form of construction of the drive merges 1 carries the claws s.

nto a,elio or bail s which The hereinabove also be replaced by ball desc ibedbushings may earings to produce upon the shaft u against the action of springs with the brakof the casing, viz. the part of the cover g P as is frequently wheels is provided with internal teeth 8' v meshing teeth 8 The latter are connected by means I of a groove and tongue with the bushing 8 which is longitudinally displaceably on the aeeaeee a minimum of friction between the several parts which are in motion relatively to each other. The use of ball-bearings, in addition, will reduce the size of the entire drive.

Fi 6 shows the drive in that position whic is assumed by the several parts dur-' tation in accordance with the size of the driv-z b relatively to the wheel rim p ing pinion with internal teeth to the casing o and therewith to the driven shaft. The result in. this case is a transmission gear of the usual kind known in connection with other sun and planet wheels f and f be kept fixed in space,

the case in known constructions. If it is desired to solve .the aforementioned problem of automatic regulation, this possibility of a constant reduction of speed does not need to be made use of the planet wheels the casing o is kept fixed relatively to the wheel rim p y action of the load to be carried by the drive. In this man- 'ner the parts 7 and f of the casing .wvill be forced to rotate in backward direction.

The stepped planet wheels 0 and 0 which do not mesh with the driving pinion 5, however, are in mesh with v is connected by way of the bushing k, the teeth 1 the disk I, the brake shoes 10. and 71 etc. The sun wheel 71. is rotated by action-of the stepped planet wheels 0 and 0 in the direction of rotation of the driving shaft (1, deducting the opposite rotation of the parts of and instead lanet wheel gears, if the carrier for the the sun wheel h which f and f The speed of rotation of the sev- 1 prevailed wills be discontinued, the brake shoes acting indirectly on the braking surface and directly in case of of the car. Free rotationof the plant wheels 0 and c and g and 9 will be impeded due to braking the sun wheel. In order to facilitate further rolling motion. of the wheels g and g upon the wheel rim p, the said wheels gand 9 must be pressed with increased force into the teeth on the outer large sun wheel p. This forward travel 7/ increased'pressure takes place in the direction towards the driving shaft and in case of proper acceleration of the motor, said pressure will assume a valueIof such magnitude, that it will be suificient in connection with the driving force to overpower the kinetic energy of the casing o and therewith of the driven shaft.

The casing 0 starts to rotate together with the driven shaft and the speed of said casing will gradually approach the speed of the driving shaft a. In this condition of operation all parts of the drive are at rest relatively to each other and form merely a unithat we do not desire to designate a wheeltary rotating mass.

Upon decreasing speed of increased load on thedriven shaft, the centrifugal force of the brake members will be diminished and a reduction of speed now.

takes place in accordance with said increased load.

The arrangement of the third form of construction as shown in Fig. 8 follows immediately from the drawings inconnection with the 'aforegiven description of the second form of our present "sun and planet wheel gear. Evidently according to Fig. 8 there are likewise only two systems of planet gears connected'with each other. The carrierof the system of planet gears on the left-hand side is carried by a bushing 10 of the shaft 20 while the planet wheel carrier f is mounted in the casing 0, q and consequently in connection with the sleeves k, and k, of the bushings s and Z These two carriers are therefore not rigidly connected with each other.

A particular feature of this construction consists therein that the casing f is perforated permitting passage of the outer planet wheels 9 and g asshown in Fig. 7.

According to Fig. 8 the planet wheelswlll cooperate with each other in the manner described inconnection with'Fig. 7. Accordingly, the mode of operation of thls ,drive will be in agreement with that of the aforedescribed drive. The construction according to Fig. 8 is a particularly simple and effective sun and planet wheel gear. When using the term sun wheel, central wheel which is necessarily positioned upon the central shaft of the drive but to include also a drum with internal teeth. Furthermore, the connection of the several gears in series should not be understood as necessitating a unidirectional force or the like, since a drive having wheels which exert a mutual effectupon each other may likewise be used. The forces in this case may be of different directions depending upon the specific mode of operation of the driv Furthermore the clutch organ or couplin thin the space bemember does not need to be arranged tween the two sun whee s or central wheels.

rotation due to wheels,

Kinematically speaking, this clutch acts as if it would be positioned between said twowheels. Also the one sun or central wheel of the two gear wheel systems is not with necesslty rigidly connected with the driven shaft.

We claim:

1. A sun and planet wheel gear, especially for motor-driven vehicles, comprisin a motor-driven shaft, a sun wheel driven y said shaft, a pair of stepped wheels co-operati've with said sun wheel, a second pair of lanet Wheels, a carrier common to both 0 said pairs of planet wheels, a wheel rim having internal teeth in mesh with said second pair of planet wheels, and a clutch geared to one' for motor-driven vehicles, comprising two individual systems of sun and planet wheel gears, the'sun wheel of one. of said systems being connected with a shaft to be driven, a centrifugal clutch inserted between the second sun wheel of one of said systems and said shaft, a carrier for the planet wheels a toothed gear on said carrier, a casing or said sun and planet wheel gear, a toothed gear on said casing in proximity to said toothed gear on said carrier, a motor shaft a Cardan shaft, a catch longitudinally displaceable on said Cardan shaft, a toothed gear co-operative with said catch, a casing having a toothed gear permitting to engage upon displacement of said catch either with said toothed gear on said casing or with said toothed gear on said carrier, a second catch freely rotatable on said motor shaft permitting upon said displacement of said latter catch to engage and disengage said latter catch with and from a gear wheel connected to said sun wheel.

4. A sun and planet wheel gear, as specified by claim 3, in which the second catch carries a flange formingv part of said centrifugal clutch.

5. A sun and planet wheel gear, ified by claim 2, having a bell-shaped carrier as spec;

for the interior .planet wheels, and a perfdration on one side of said carrier, said per foration permitting the pair of'exterior planet wheels which mesh with the interior planet Wheels to project through said perforation,

and an'exterior toothed gear on said carrier C 1,eee,eee

described comprising, in combination with driving and driven shafts, differential speed gearing connecting said shafts, including a sun wheel gear freely revoluble on the driven shaft, planet wheel gears in mesh with said sun wheel gear, a support for the planet wheel gears rotatable relative to the driving and driven shafts, means connected with the driving shaft for rotating said support, a

member geared to the planet wheels rotatable as a unit therewith about the sun wheel and also independently thereof, and a centrifugal clutch interposed between said member and one of said shafts.

7. Transmission gearing as described in claim 6 in which means is provided-connecting the centrifugal clutch with said sun wheel gear.

y 8. Transmission gearing as described in claim 6 in which said member consists of a gear having a drum-shaped extension su ported upon the driving and driven sha and encasing the sun and planet gears and the centrifugal clutch. I

9. 'Transmission gearingof the character described, comprising, in combination with driving and driven shafts, differential speed gearing connecting said shaftsincluding a sun wheel gear on one of said shafts, planet wheel gears in mesh with said sun wheel gear, a support for said planet wheel gears, means for rotatively connecting said support with the other of-s'aid shaftsor disconnecting the I same therefrom, a revoluble casing enclosing sa1d gearing and having an internal gear in mesh with the planet wheel gears, clutch means shiftable into and out of connected I relation with the sun wheel gear and adapted to engage the wall of said casing to connect 40 said gear and casing for rotation as a unit, and a single manually operable means for simultaneously actuating the means connect ing the planet wheel gear support to the sec; 0nd named shaft to establish such connec tion and for shifting said clutch means to disconnect the same from the sun wheel gear. 'In testimony whereof, we aifix our signatures;

- name name.

WALTER nammma, gen. MHEUKE. 

